“A grandfather sick of roadworks [road construction] near his home defied his council and built his own toll road [in just ten days] allowing people to circumvent the disrupted section.

“Opened on Friday, it’s the first private toll road built since cars became a familiar sight on British roads 100 years ago. Motorists pay £2 to travel each way and bypass the 14 miles diversion.

“Mike Watts, 62, hired a crew of workmen and ploughed £150,000 of his own cash into building a 365m long bypass road in a field next to the closed A431. He reckons it will cost another £150,000 in upkeep costs and to pay for two 24 hour a day toll booth operators.

“Speaking from the road in Kelston, Somerset, Mike said: ‘Too many people are displaced by the road closure, their daily lives have been so disrupted by this.'”

Who will build the roads? Enterprising entrepreneurs like these — if the government will simply get out of the way.